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Rinaldo
By George Frideric Handel (Georg Friedrich Händel)
Recordings
 Handel.
Rinaldo. (HWV 7a, London 1711). Decca 289 467 087-2 (3
CDs, 2000). Christopher Hogwood, The Academy of Ancient Music.
Goffredo: Bernarda Fink, contralto; Almirena: Cecilia Bartoli,
soprano; Rinaldo: David Daniels, countertenor; Eustazio: Daniel
Taylor, countertenor; Argante: Gerald Finley, bass; Armida: Luba
Orgonasova, soprano; Mago cristiano: Bejun Mehta, countertenor;
Donna & Sirena II: Ana-Maria Rincón, soprano; Sirena I:
Catherine Bott, soprano; Un araldo: Mark Padmore, tenor.
Liner notes by Anthony Hicks |
Characters & synopsis |
The Rinaldo Story by Suzanne Aspden. Perhaps the finest
Handel opera recording since Hogwood's Orlando, although
I could do without the Nightingale song in Augeletti. (In
fact, House Sparrows were released at the premiere.)
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 Handel.
Rinaldo. (HWV 7a, London 1711). (3 CDs 2004).
Review by David Vickers. Nicholas McGegan, Concerto Köln.
Goffredo: Cécile van de Sant, mezzo-soprano; Almirena: Cyndia
Sieden, soprano; Rinaldo: Diana Moore, contralto; Eustazio:
Christophe Dumaux, countertenor; Argante: Andrew
Foster-Williams, bass; Armida: Dominique Labelle, soprano. Sold
by the
German Handel Society. |
 Handel.
Rinaldo. (HWV 7a, London 1711). Naxos 8.660165/67 (3 CDs,
January 2006). Kevin Mallon, Aradia Ensemble, Opera in Concert.
Rinaldo: Kimberly Barber, mezzo-soprano; Armida: Barbara
Hannigan, soprano; Almirena: Laura Whalen, soprano; Goffredo:
Marion Newman, mezzo-soprano; Eustazio: Jennifer Enns Modolo,
mezzo-soprano; Argante: Sean Watson, bass; Giles Tomkins, bass.
Inexpensive.
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 Handel.
Rinaldo. (HWV 7a, London 1711). Harmonia Mundi HMC
901796/8 (3 CDs 2003). René Jacobs,
Freiburger
Barockorchester. Rinaldo: Vivica Genaux, mezzo-soprano;
Almirena: Miah Persson, soprano; Armida: Inga Kalna, soprano;
Goffredo: Lawrence Zazzo, countertenor; Eustazio: Christophe
Dumaux, countertenor; Argante: James Rutherford, bass; Mago
cristiano / Araldo: Dominique Visse, countertenor.
Review by Philippe Gelinaud. Carefully dissected by Anthony
Hicks in "HIP -- or HPI [Historically Perverse
Interpretation]?", Early Music Review 91: 24-25 (June
2003). E.g. "Jacobs' version is nearly 20 minutes longer than
Hogwood's, despite lacking two arias that Hogwood includes. Over
four minutes is taken up by the final harpsichord cadenza in the
aria 'Vo far guerra', extracted from William Babel's well-known
arrangement -- an amusing recital piece despite its
repetitiveness and inept harmonies, but ruinous in the context
of the opera. . . .
"The continuo section, augmented by harp and organ, keeps up a ceaseless wash of multi-coloured sound: even in passages where (characteristically for this period) Handel silences the bass line, Jacobs gets his players to provide one. . . . One may quibble about interpretative nuance, but for me Hogwood directs a lively performance and does nothing that is not fully within historical period parameters, whereas nearly every number in Jacob's version goes outside them in some way. . . . pseudo-scholarly justifications of what are no more than personal whims become part of the package. HIP or HPI? If the records sell, who cares?" US | UK | DE | FR | CA | JP |
References
Winton Dean & J. Merrill Knapp. Handel's Operas, 1704-1726. (Oxford University Press 1995 (1987)).
R. Strohm, "Handel and his Italian opera texts." Essays on Handel and the Italian Opera. (Oxford University Press 1985).